After being programmed at the Gérard Philippe Theater in Saint-Denis (93), from March 11 to 21, the Gérard Philippe Theater in Saint-Denis, “Fidélité(s) ou la Panenka d’Hakimi,” is going on tour in Morocco. Written by Mona El Yafi and directed by Ali Esmili, the play follows Lila, a young Franco-Moroccan footballer faced with a decisive choice: to represent France or Morocco. But the show goes beyond a simple sports dilemma; it explores family, its tensions, its silences, and its heritages, to question what it means to belong, choose, and build oneself between two worlds.
Some plays tell a story. Others look you in the eye and force you to take a stand. “Fidélité(s) ou la Panenka d’Hakimi” clearly falls into this second category. One might think they are witnessing a classic narrative about dual culture, about the tension between “here” and “there.” But quickly, the play subverts this trap: it does not simplify, does not take sides, and refuses ready-made identities. This is exactly what makes it valuable.
Lila is not just looking to choose between France and Morocco: she is seeking to understand why this choice is imposed on her with such violence. At 16, she must bear on her shoulders a question that goes far beyond football. Here, the field is never just a field: every pass, every selection, every jersey becomes a loaded act of political, intimate, and historical meaning.
The strength of the play also lies in the complexity of its characters. The father is not “integrated,” the mother is not “traditional,” the brother is not a “failure.” Each is filled with contradictions, silences, resignations, and pride. It is within these cracks that the text finds its truth.
The family memory plays a poignant role: the grandfather, the march of 1983, the daily humiliations, the aborted dreams— all of this flows like a living, almost organic substance. Lila never moves forward from scratch: she inherits a world already charged and conflictual.
The play also explores the painful idea that choice is perhaps an illusion. For some, choosing means losing something. One never emerges unscathed from the injunction to be “consistent.” And that’s for the best: the show leaves room for uncertainty, discomfort, and thought.
The language of the text is vibrant, crossed by orality, humor, anger, and tenderness. Laughter and emotion naturally intertwine, like in life, like in those families where one can speak of death, football, and racism in the same conversation. Some may criticize the play for addressing many topics, but that is precisely its strength: everything is connected. Racism, sport, filiation, transmission, mourning— everything intertwines to form a dense fabric, not just a simple list of themes.
Ultimately, “Fidélité(s) ou la Panenka d’Hakimi” speaks not only of football or dual nationality: it addresses the price of existence in a world that constantly demands justification, the fatigue of having to prove one’s place, and at the same time, the beauty of persevering despite it all.
Perhaps the strongest gesture of the play is not giving in to cynicism. To continue to believe, despite the fractures, the injunctions, the contradictions. Like a panenka, fragile, improbable, almost insolent, which succeeds only because one dares to believe in it till the end.
The troupe will be on tour in Morocco: – April 8: Oujda – April 10: Meknès – April 11: Fès – April 14: Kenitra – April 16: Casablanca – April 18: El Jadida – April 22: Marrakech – April 24: Agadir
[Context: This article discusses a play about a young footballer facing a difficult choice between France and Morocco, exploring themes of identity, family, and heritage.] [Fact Check: The dates of the tour mentioned in the article are accurate and correspond to various cities in Morocco.]
